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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/26/1981 City Council 000771 MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON JANUARY 26, 1981 A WORK SESSION MEETING of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 7:30 p.m. with the following members present: Richard Turner Mayor William J. Longo Councilman Linda A. Adams Councilman Norman Adeler Councilman Gary Shipman Councilman Dave Brown Councilman and with all members present, a quorum was established. Prior to the agenda items, Mayor Turner introduced Reverend Bill Tinsley from the First Baptist Church in The Colony and asked that he lead the meeting in a prayer of thankfulness for the return of the hostages from Iran. EMERGENCY ITEM--RECEIVED REQUEST FROM COLONIAL BAPTIST CHURCH TO PLACE A PORTABLE STRUCTURE ON SAID PROPERTY Reverend Jim Wallace was present and presented to the Council this request. He stated that Sunday, February 1 was the anniversary date of their church, and they would like to have the building usable at that time. This space would be used for Sunday School classes on a temporary basis only, Reverend Wallace explained. Councilman Shipman and Councilman Adams were concerned as to when plans could be brought before the Council regarding construction start on additional buildings. Councilman Shipman explained to Reverend Wallace that in the past they have been lenient regarding this variance, but the consensus has been that a six-month time period is sufficient. It was the consensus of the Council that this should be brought back to the next regular meeting for final action but that they did approve the use of the portable building for a six-month period contingent upon Mr. Bradburry, Director of Community Development, approving the use of same. 1. RECEIVE CITIZEN REQUEST REGARDING PARAMEDIC SERVICE IN THE COLONY Nancy Westbrook, a citizen of The Colony, presented this request to the Council. She advised them that there had been three infant deaths within the past several months in The Colony and that there are over 3,000 children that reside within The Colony city limits. Based on these facts, she stated that there is a great need for daytime emergency care, and should be considered as soon as possible. Councilman Adams and Councilman Shipman told her that the Council was in full agreement with this request and advised her to come back in the summer during the budget process. Councilman Shipman advised that petitions would help their cause and that this should be a budget package for them to consider then; however, city revenue prohibits the beginning of this service during this fiscal year. At this time, Councilman Longo clarified for the citizens that they did have very adequate emergency services that was presently being handled by the Volunteer Fire Department. The Council did agree with Councilman Longo; however, Councilman Shipman did request that paramedic service be a budget package for the 1981-82 budget year. 2. FINAL PRESENTATION AND REVIEW OF ANNUAL CITY REPORT Tom Hart, City Manager, presents the report to the Council for their review and approval. After review, it was the consensus of the Council that it should go to print and be mailed as soon as possible. -1- 000772 6. RECEIVE REPORT FROM PARK AND RECREATION BOARD REGARDING 4TH OF JULY PLANS Rick Herold, Director of Park and Recreation, stated that at a recent Board meeting, the Park and Recreation members did agree that a committee should be appointed to prepare plans for the 4th of July celebration . They did recommend that Joan Lux be also appointed to this committee. Councilman Longo directed Janice Carroll, City Secretary, to contact all old committee members and that this be on next week's agenda for Council input. 3. DISCUSSION OF SPECIFIC USE ORDINANCE REGULATING ESTABLISHMENTS SERVING LIQUOR ON PREMISES _-, Councilman Brown did give a report to the Council regarding the Addison ordinance and how it was handled. He advised that Addison during the zoning process established individual regulations for each specific use permit as it pertained to that particular establishment. Rob Dillard, attorney for the city, was present for this agenda item to advise the Council of their legal controls in this area. Mayor Turner asked Mr. Dillard if it is in fact legal to be discriminatory. Mr. Dillard advised the Council that, through the zoning process, the Council is not legally required to state a reason for their vote, however, it is very important that they do not state the wrong reasons for their vote on a particular zoning case. However, he assured the Council that they do have the power to establish reasonable requirements for individuals' specific use zonings. Councilman Longo did agree with the proposed ordinance. Council- man Shipman's only concern was that the ordinance did not require a specific percentage of revenue on food sales. Mr. Dillard advised them that this could be done on an individual basis per establishment. After a lengthy discussion, the City Council did concur that flexibility should be allowed in the specific use zoning for establishments serving liquor on the premises. Mr. Dillard further explained the ordinance that Sections 1 through 4 simply amended the use schedule and allowed the specific use permits for this type of establishment in only shopping centers, general retail; then Section 5 simply outlines the zoning. He further advised the Council to remember that their initial responsibility in zoning matters such as this was to protect surrounding property owners. After a further ~ brief discussion, the Council did direct that the zoning process be started and that this be brought before the Planning and Zoning Commission as soon as possible. 5. DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED HOME RULE CHARTER AMENDMENTS During a lengthy discussion and review of the Home Rule Charter with the attorney for the city present, the Council agreed that the following amendments to the Home Rule Charter would be presented to the voters on April 4, 1981: Section 1.04--Extension of boundary by Council-- This amendment would eliminate the requirement of a second posting of an ordinance for 30 days prior to second reading. Section 2.0~-Composition of Council--This will be changed to a six-member Council. Section 2.03--Election Methods--This will be changed again to require that the Mayor and Place 1 and 2 shall be elected at large, with Places 3, 4, 5 and 6 to be elected by districts. Section 2.09--This will be changed to allow the Mayor a vote. Section 2.12--Council to establish rules of procedure of voting. This would eliminate roll call voting but it does require that all votes be recorded in the minutes. Section 3.10--Method of Adoption, General Ordinances-- This amendment would eliminate the requirement of two readings for each ordinance and further eliminate the need to publish the caption of each and every ordinance. -2- 000778 Section 3.11--Method of Adoption, Emergency Ordinance-- The Council did concur that this should be deleted as the elimination from Section 3.10 makes it unnecessary. Section 7.03--Official Ballot--This amendment does allow that the City Secretary conduct the drawing of lots for place of name on ballot. This is in accordance with the Texas Election Code. Section 9.07--General Increase in Taxes--Mr. Dillard stated that this should be deleted as this section has generally been super- seded by Article 7244c, the so-called Truth in Taxation Act. Section 10.03--Proposed Budget--This section is amended in order that it conform to State law. Section 10.05--Proceedin~ on Adoption of Proposed Budget--This amendment deletes the requirement of the budget being passed 10 days before the beginning of the fiscal year. 4. REVIEW OF PROPOSED MANUAL OF PERSONNEL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES In a lengthy review of this manual, the Council expressed several concerns. Councilman Longo stated that Section 1.4 should include employees that are not paid by the city. It was also noted that Section 3.4 does not include a psychological test, which the Council does require for all police officers. Section 4.01 dealing with probationary periods for new employees requires only a six-month probation. The Council requested that the City Manager look into a year probationary period for police officers or perhaps a six-month probationary period after becoming certified. Section 8.2c dealing with vacation and its accrual was discussed at length. Councilman Longo stated that he felt strongly that employees should be required to take vacation and it not be accrued. The Council was in concurrence that they should carry over no more than one week a year and that total accrual be limited to 20 days or 160 hours. The accrual of sick days was also discussed in this chapter and Councilman Shipman expressed the most concern regarding the accrual of sick days over a period of time. They did feel that this should be more conservative and requested that the City Council* bring back further options for them to consider at the next Council meeting. Councilman Brown stated that he was also under the impression that we did carry disability insurance for employees and requested that the cost on this insurance be brought to the Council.~ Section 8.5 and 8.6 deal with military leave and military leave in a national emergency. The Council did discuss what pay employees would be receiving if military leave was taken. It was the concurrence that the city should pay the difference in the employee's regular salary and what he receives from the U.S. Government. Councilman Longo requested that the Merchant Marines be added to this list to be qualified as military leave. There being no further discussion by the Council at this time, Councilman Brown moved that the meeting be adjourned. Seconded by Councilman Shipman, the motion was passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None Mayor Turner adjourned the meeting at midnight. AT TEST: ~~~ :AN~h~eeYld~itiOi~~iiii~iii~iii~i~l~ ~ more conservative and requested that h Council) bring back further options for them to consider at the -3- next Council meeting.